Four Monsters, One Roof
by Sanura Bey
Summary: Nikol, one of the last of the Fay, has joined Aidan and Josh in their rent house where they find Sally the ghost. Like the boys, she has her own list of problems going back centuries and they've come back to haunt her and her nearest and dearest. How will she cope with everything that's coming her way and help her friends?
1. There goes the Neighborhood Part 1

"We'll see you in the morning." I called to one of my best friends as he walked out the door.

"Yeah." He said closing the door and walking out.

"You got any plans tonight?" My second best friend asked me.

"I actually have a date. Don't you have one with a certain red head?" I asked him with a knowing smile on my face.

"Shut up and be careful." He told me with a smile before we left our hotel room and went out into the world.

_We're all hiding something, aren't we? From the moment we wake, look in that mirror, all we do is spin our little lies, suck in that gut, color that hair, twist off that wedding ring. And why not? What's the penalty? What are the consequences, really? "I'm only human," you say, and all is forgiven. But what if some cruel twist of fate makes you something else, something other? Who forgives you then?_

"So what do you do?" Mark asked me as we walked down the street together.

"I'm a nurse at one of the local hospitals." I told him with a smile.

"You look to be so young to be a nurse." He told me and I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I said.

"So why a nurse?" he asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Of all the things a beautiful woman could do with her life she chose to become a nurse. Why?" he asked again and I thought about it.

"To help people. Isn't that why every nurse becomes a nurse?" I asked and we shared a laugh. "In reality, my past is dark and seems to ooze blood. I want to make up for it." He laughed at my words, not knowing their true meaning.

_Every human spends a night or two on the dark side and regrets it. But what if you only exist on the dark side?_

"Want to come to my place. I want to get to know you more." He told me and I thought about it for a moment.

"I'd like that." I whispered before we shared a kiss.

_We just want the same things that you do: a chance at life, at love. We're not so different in that way. And so we try and sometimes fail. When you're something other, a monster, the consequences are worse. Much worse. You wake up from your nightmares. We don't._

We made it back to his place and started to go farther and I pushed him away when I felt I was losing control.

"Don't stop me now. You know you want to keep going." He told me as he pushed my hands away and tried to force me down but I snapped his neck before he could really do anything.

"Shit." I said staring at the body. I quickly made it look like an accident and took away anything that could lead back to me before walking away back to my hotel room where Aiden was. I guess I forgot to mention, I'm Fay. And unlike my vampire and werewolf friends, Aiden and Josh, I was one of the very, very few. We'd been hunted down by both the wolves and the vamps at one point in our history and now less than a handful are alive that are full blooded. Most are mixed and possibly never received their powers and immortality from their parents. Now don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with mixed breeds, but I'd never met any who hadn't tried to kill me yet so I avoided them.

* * *

The next morning I joined Aiden as we waited in his car to pick up Josh who had wolfed out last night while we went on our dates. When I saw Josh, he was walking up to us wearing a floral dress. I watched him walk to us in shock and unlocked the back door so he could get in. Aiden, who'd been distracted for some reason, came to and handed Josh his clothes, necklace and a bottle of water. We both stared at him as he started cleaning himself off.

"You little slut." Aiden said causing me to start laughing with him as Josh stared at us angrily. My old friend then started the car and we were on our way to the hospital where we all worked.

"Dr. Baker, telephone for you." A woman over the PA announced as we all got ready for our shifts.

"Hey you know there's a better way to do this." Aiden said. He'd been saying we should rent a house together for a while now and he wasn't going to give up.

"Do what?" Josh asked him. "Be a better monster? No, thank you."

"Or dignified monster." Aiden said making Josh laugh at him.

"You're joking, right?" Josh asked him.

"He's right Josh. You shouldn't have to run into the woods every time that you turn." I told him.

"Pretty sure the gang down at the Econolodge wouldn't take to kindly to me doing it there." He told us sarcastically. "So…"

"So what about what I said?" Aiden asked him. "What about the apartment?"

"Yeah, it's perfect." Josh laughed. "That's a great idea. Let's do that. It's perfect. We'll have full moon parties. We'll invite the neighbors over and eat them."

"Or…" Aiden said, trying to give him another look at it. "We can look after each other like normal people. Aren't you tired pf punishing yourself squatting in hostels, and hourly motels? Don't you ever just want your own bed?"

"Besides, God! What do you do with a girl if you meet one?" I asked him and he gave me a look.

"And yet another reminder of how badly my life sucks, thank you." Josh said sarcastically.

"Seriously would you just think about it?" Aiden asked him. "This could help. All of us." He said looking up at me. Josh stood up from the bench he'd been on and closed his locker.

"How could four walls and a toilet possible help this?" he asked motioning to all of us. Aiden stood from his seat and we all walked out of the locker room together. "And for the record, reminding me I haven't had sex in the last two years…" Josh stopped talking when one of the other nurses just happened to be right in front of him giving him a strange look. "A total lie."

"Sorry." She said.

"No, he is. Please." Aiden said for Josh.

"I am." Josh agreed.

"I'm Aiden."

"Hi. Um, Cara." She said starting to flirt with him.

"Josh."

"Nikol."

"Are you new here or…?" Aiden asked her.

"Yeah, I'm actually I'm just filling in for Rebecca." She told us and I looked at Aiden. "She didn't show up in ICU, so they called me in."

"Welcome, Milady." Josh said in an English accent doing a little bow and we all stared at him for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm actually just looking for the nurse's station." Cara told us looking back to Aiden. "Do any of you know…?"

"Yeah, it's second floor, left from the elevator." Aiden told her.

"Great. Thanks." She sad getting her flirt back on with Aiden. "It was really great meeting all of you." She smiled at Aiden before walking away in the direction he gave her. Josh walked the opposite way leaving both Aiden and I alone. I went about my day like normal until it was finally time for lunch. I joined Josh on the bench he was on and relaxed next to him. Aiden finally joined us after a few minutes and we sat as the birds chirped around us as Josh ate.

"Are you serious?" Josh asked suddenly.

"Bout what?" Aiden asked him.

"Being normal. Trying to be." Josh said and Aiden sighed. "I used to think this curse was what happened to me once a month. And I realized this – this – this is the curse: every day, sitting on a bench, watching people walk by, eating sandwiches, making plans, being… what I used to be. I always tell myself: "Well, Josh, this is what…you get. This is what you deserve. This is what you are now." I can't do this like this anymore."

"Of course I can't cook." Aiden told him.

"You don't eat." Josh reminded him.

"I don't clean." I told him.

"I have O.C.D." Josh told us.

"Uh, my credit's crap." Aiden said. "Just putting it out there."

"Mine's nonexistent." I listed. The three of us suddenly started laughing at nothing in particular before Josh continued his lunch and we got back to work.

* * *

A month later I was standing in the living room of a rent house we were checking out. It had two bedrooms, a basement, a nice kitchen, living room and one bathroom. Did I mention it was two stories?

"Well, it took us a month but we found it!" Josh called out to us as he ran downstairs and Aiden came in from the kitchen. "There's a view."

"Of an alley." I extended.

"The plumbing's beat all to hell." Aiden said.

"Go upstairs. You can see a building that can see water." Josh tried defending it and we both gave him strange looks. "It's – there's a reflection." He said and Aiden started chuckling. "Look at those windows. I mean, you could rest a pie on those sills."

"Yeah, if we were creepy 80-year-old cat ladies." I said with loads of sarcasm and a smile on my face.

"This place is amazing, guys. You know it. I want it." Josh demanded.

"Just play it cool, ok?" Aiden asked him.

"Yeah Martha Stewert. Let the grownups do the talking." I joked and he gave me another look I laughed at.

"I can totally play it cool." Josh said.

"You sure?" Aiden asked him.

"Got it!" Josh instisted before laughing lightly. We all left the house to talk with the land lord, Danny, outside.

"So?" he asked us. "What do you guys think?"

"Well, honestly it's a little dark." Aiden said.

"Yeah." Danny agreed.

"Which a coat of light paint can help." Josh defended. "A lamp." He looked at all of us for a moment as Aiden and I gave him a look. "You two like dark."

"And the plumbing is a little bit –" Aiden started saying.

"Look, I know. I keep meaning to fix that." Danny told us.

"Which we can help with." Josh volunteered us. "I mean, what are weekends for?"

"Look, truth is, there was an engaged couple living here. All right? They started fixing the place up. Things didn't work out." He said looking down and away from us.

"What, they split?" Aiden asked him. But it looked to be something more personal than that.

"Yeah, sort of. She died." Danny told us.

"Who died?" Josh asked.

"The girl." Danny explained for him.

"The fiancée." I said.

"Yeah." Danny confirmed.

"In the house?" Josh asked him and he nodded. "Shouldn't you have mentioned this in your ad?"

"Well, I don't know" Danny admitted. "Do people do that?"

"Yeah, it's fine." I said trying to move to conversation off her.

"Look, if you don't want the place –" Danny started saying to us as Josh turned to me.

"It's fine?" Josh asked.

"People die." Aiden said.

"Yeah, in old-age homes, car accidents." Josh listed off. "Not with their heads lodged in my future oven."

"Josh…" Aiden started saying.

"Yeah, um…" Danny said pulling us back to him. "She was my fiancée." This put us all into silence for a moment.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Josh said trying to cover himself after what he'd said before.

"Look, I probably should've mentioned that. It's just, um… I don't come back here much." Danny informed us.

"And that's why you're out here?" I asked.

"Look, you three seem all right." Danny told us. "I know the place isn't perfect, but it's a great place for a couple and family. It really is."

"What?" Josh asked him.

"What?" Danny asked him confused.

"It's ok." Aiden told Josh.

"So – so look, I can come by on weekends and do what fix-up I can." Danny told us, trying to get us to rent the house. "As far as I'm concerned, any furniture in there is yours. And honestly… I don't need a credit check." That was the deal signer. A few hours later we were out looking for furniture that we didn't already have. Table and chairs being the big things. After we'd found the perfect table and foldable chairs Aiden and I lounged as Josh cleaned around us for what felt like hours. Aiden then found an old frame and tried hanging it above the fireplace alone.

"I'm going to need you to hold this for me." He said before turning to see Josh asleep. I got off the couch and walked up to him to help. We hung the old frame and left the room so Josh could sleep.

* * *

Later that afternoon Josh was busy slaving away over his stove whistling when he dropped an egg.

"Ah!"

"Look at you, Julia Child." Aiden said reading his magazine.

"Well, if you're alone in the kitchen and you make a mistake who will know?" he asked imitating Julia Child while laughing. He bent to pick up the egg with a napkin when the lights started flickering on and off. Aiden and I stared at the lights as Josh stared past us.

"What?" Aiden asked him.

"Someone's in the house." He told us. He quickly opened a drawer and pulled out a cooking utensil and stared behind us again.

"Where?" Aiden asked him.

"Upstairs." Josh whispered. Aiden and I quickly got up and started for the stairs with Josh behind us.

"Aiden, Nikol. Wait, wait, wait!" Josh said before grabbing our arms and pulling us back. "Shouldn't we call 911?"

"You're a werewolf." Aiden whispered.

"Yeah, occasionally." Josh said and Aiden sighed.

"Useless condition." Aiden said as we made our way up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. When we walked in a girl was standing there and turned to us as we walked in staring at her.

"Oh, ladies and gentlemen, the Bobbsey twins and Buffy!" she said. "I am God. I am everywhere. I drove all night just to get back home." She said waving her gray cardigan behind her.

"Are you trying to scare us with Bon Jovi?" Aiden finally asked her.

"Yeah, not really easy to scare." I told her. She looked at us confused for a moment.

"You can hear me?" she asked us.

"Yeah." Aiden told her as though she should have known this. She had no Aura about her meaning she was a ghost, no wonder she was surprised we could hear her.

"You went searching for drug change under the wrong couch cushions, lady." Josh told her as she laughed. "I'm calling the cops."

"Don't bother Josh. She's a ghost." I told him.

"Shut up." He told me as she continued gasping and laughing in happiness. "You're a ghost?" Josh asked her before she disappeared. Josh moved back in surprise before she reappeared.

"Sorry, I don't have a handle on this." She told us. "I'm Sally. Hi!" she said before disappearing again. "Crap."

"Wait, what?" Josh asked still confused.

* * *

"So, you – you – you've just been here since you…" Josh said trying to be delicate.

"Since I bit it?" she asked him. "Pretty much." She stared at all of us before giggling again. "Six montes of a one-sided conversation, me ranting, people just walking through me. Oh! For a month, there was these vegans. Like, this isn't Burning Man. You can shower." She ranted.

"How did you die? If that's not to personal of a question?" Aiden asked her.

"That's like asking how old a woman is." I pointed out to him and he just gave me a look.

"No, it's fine, especially since I have no idea." She revealed to us.

"At all?" Josh asked her and she shook her head.

"I remember going to sleep. I remember lying next to Danny, and I woke up and there was this." She told us. "Anyway, you three gonna go all _Twilight_ on each other at some point?"

"Excuse me?" Aiden asked her.

"I know what you are." She pointed out as if it was obvious.

"How?" Josh asked her.

"Because it's all you guys ever talk about." She pointed out. "I want be normal, but I can't, 'cause I wanna eat people, etc." both boys sighed before Aiden walked up to Sally. "It's ok, I'm cool with it. Believe me, the regular living are overrated."

"So, wait. So, stop. Let me just get this straight. So you've been watching us, right?" Josh asked her. "Just going through our things?" she nodded her head in confirmation. "Great, great. We're living with Sally the peeper ghost." He said sarcastivally.

"Oh, relax. I can't even move dust." She told him. "And I'm not a peeper… much. I would have that mole checked out." She told Josh. "You were pre-med, weren't you? You should know that." Aiden and I both laughed before joining Josh on the couch.

"Well, I'm gonna enjoy this." Aiden said.

"As am I. It'll be nice to have another girl around." I said smiling up at Sally as I leaned on Aiden. Aiden and I had been friends for over 100 years now

"You were supposed to marry what's-his-face, weren't you?" Josh asked her.

"Danny, yes." She said sadly.

"Right, so why don't you just go haunt him?" Josh asked.

"Josh, just –" Aiden started saying but Josh interrupted him.

"No, I mean, listen. I'm sorry that you're a ghost and all, but if you're gonna spend eternity with someone, shouldn't it be with the one that you loved or, you know, anywhere but here?" he asked her and I stared at him.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could say it's a blood-sugar thing, but Josh is rude all the time." Aiden said giving our friend a look.

"It's ok." She insisted. "Josh, I would love to leave."

"But she can't be-right?" Aiden asked her.

"Right." Sally agreed.

"You're not our first ghost." Aiden informed her.

"So, how can you see me anyway?" she asked us.

"Well, think of us as sort of different countries on the same continent." Aiden told her.

"All supernatural beings can see ghosts." I said.

"Oh my god! That's beautiful, really. We're Africa." Josh said sarcastically before turning to Sally again. "Ok, so about this whole leaving thing, have you tried?"

"Obviously I've tried." She told him. "I haven't been moping around the house, rattling chains, takin bubble baths. I would love to just open that door and magically walk back into the life that was ripped away from me. I did have plans, you know." There was a moment of hush in the room before Aiden piped in.

"We gotta get to work." He said pushing me up and hitting Josh's arm.

"I'll be here." Sally said happily.

"It was great meeting you." Josh said sarcastically.

"At least I don't masturbate to Nova!" she called out and Josh froze in the entryway, turned to me and Aiden before hurrying to the door and leaving with us behind him.

* * *

"So you're okay with a ghost living in our house?" Josh asked us once we had been at work for a while. We were walking in a deserted part of the hospital to find a place for Josh to turn safely without a risk of harming others.

"You do realize that technically it's her house." Aiden reminded him.

"Look, I'm sorry that she died and she never got married and – and that she doesn't know how to move on, but seriously, I mean, the whole point of this house was having one place where monsters aren't, where you don't have to apologize or hide or think about we are. Where we can eat pizza, or pretend to eat pizza, where we can be human for, like, just an hour or two." Josh complained.

"A ghost isn't a ghost with a reason to be." I told him.

"Sally, everything she knows about ghosts seems to come from Whoopi Goldberg." Aiden said. "She know nothing, Josh. Would you please give her a chance to find her way?" we stopped walking after Aiden asked his question and Josh looked around.

"Where the hell are we?" Josh asked him. We followed Aiden to another part of the basement area.

"They just cleared this place out for expansion, but that could take years." Aiden pointed out. "It's perfect, isn't it?" Josh walked into the large room and we waited for him to say something. "You can change down here."

"Into a crazy person?" Josh asked him.

"Step one, we go an apartment, but if you really want to do this, have a chance at having a normal life, well you gotta find a reliable way to deal with your transformation." Aiden told him. "So, step two, your own personal –"

"Cage." Josh finished.

"It works though, doesn't it?" I asked him.

"You could use it tomorrow night." Aiden said, reminding him of the full moon.

"Does it lock?" Josh asked. Aiden and I walked to the door. Aiden grabbed the handle on the inside and pushed on it with his strength, breaking it off the door. He tossed the handle away and ushered me outside the room.

"Try it." He said closing the door so Josh couldn't get out. "I can let you out in the mornings." He called into the room. We all then went back up to the hospital and went back to work.

* * *

A few hours later we'd had an emergency where Aiden and I were both called to help. We worked quickly but I could see Aiden getting fidgety and trying to hide something from me. As soon as they started to move the boy Aiden shed his emergency clothing and moved away from both them and the shed items in the biohazard bag. He stopped moving in the hall and took deep breaths and I moved to his side and rubbed a comforting arm on his back. He turned his head where a poster of Rebecca was.

"Sad isn't it?" we looked to see the girl, Cara I think her name was, standing next to us. "Cara." She said, making sure we knew her name.

"Oh, we know." Aiden said smiling at her.

"Ok." She said smiling. "You know, her mom comes by every day, passing out flyers, which I get, because you want to do everything you can, but let's face it, she's scattered in a dumpster, isn't she?" she asked with a smile on her face. "I mean aren't they always?" Aiden looked to the ground and I gave him a curious look. He and Rebecca went on one date which wasn't enough for him to have fallen in love with her, was it? "Oh God! Unless you… you knew her. Anyway, we absolutely should do something for her, like, uh, have a vigil or start a group or a clothing drive or…" she blabbered on until she chuckled and put her hands to her face. "Don't listen to me. I just meant that if it were me, I would want closure."

"It's ok." He told her with a smile on his face.

"Yes, please stop talking." I begged making her give me a shocked look. Normally I was a very easy going person but something about her was driving me wild with anger.

"I've had, like, a hundred cups of coffee today. I keep making it for the cops, and then every time I make a pot, I think I should stay and have a cup with them, because I – I don't want them to think that I'm hiding anything, oh, which, I'm not." She rambled again.

"So the police are here again?" Aiden asked her.

"Re-canvassing." She said doing the little bunny quotes I never really understood. Aiden stared straight ahead thinking about whatever he was hiding from Josh and I. Both boys were able to go home while I worked the overnight shift as well as the afternoon shift so when I got home I was beyond tired.

"Hey, Nikol." Sally said sadly.

"I wish I knew. I want to see Danny but Josh didn't help me at all and I don't know who else to turn to." She said.

"Hey, don't worry. We will work out why you are still here, I promise." I said smiling at her. She smiled sadly before going to sit on the couch alone while I went to sleep.

* * *

The next day I was off and went for a walk around Boston for the first time in many years.

"Nikol." I froze and turned to see the one person I didn't want to see ever again.

"What do you want, Mikael?" I asked.

"A vampire and a werewolf, huh?" he asked me, smirking.

"What about it?" I asked him.

"The prey dines and lives with the hunters. What a joke." He sneered.

"These two aren't like that. They just want to be human and live human lives." I told him. Mikael was the leader of one of the two main clans of Fay: the Dark Fay. I had been one of them.

"And do you?" he asked me. "Do you want to be human so much you'll turn your back on your own people? On our way of life?"

"Of course I'm not turning my back on my way of life, but I have no issues with vampires and werewolves like you do." I reminded him.

"Your parents, our former leaders, were killed by vampires during a wolf attack that killed most of our clan. The only time they worked together was that night." He reminded me.

"I don't need a play by play of that night Mikael. I was the one who found them in the arms of the vampires who'd killed them." That night had been one of my worst nightmares for the last few centuries. My mother had been in the arms of a blonde man laughing while my father had his neck torn open by a red headed man. I'd called for backup and the two vampires quickly left me alone with what little had remand of my family. Mikael, my younger sister's husband, took control of the group after I'd refused the position. After that I left the group and a few hundred years later I met up with Aiden then a few months ago we met Josh.

"We found a wolf here in town. He'll be weak tonight. Half the group are going after him while the other half go after a blood den the vampires are set up all over the city. Join us. Avenge your parents and take out the leeches that crawl around in the dirt." I stared at him as my phone continued to go off. I looked at it and saw Josh's name on the screen. He was supposed to be locked up and turning, why was he calling me? Was he the wolf they were going after?


	2. There goes the Neighborhood Part 2

Previously on Four Monsters, One Roof:

"You shouldn't have to turn in the woods." Aiden told Josh.

"How could four walls and a toilet possibly help this?" Josh asked motioning to all of us.

"There was an engaged couple who lived here. She died." Danny informed us.

"In the house?" Josh asked him.

"Someone's in the house." He told us.

"You can hear me?" she asked us.

"Yeah." Aiden told her as though she should have known this.

She's a ghost." I told him.

"Shut up." He told me as she continued gasping and laughing in happiness.

"How did you die?" Aiden asked her

"I don't know." She told us.

After we'd found the perfect table and foldable chairs Aiden and I lounged as Josh cleaned around us for what felt like hours.

"The whole point of this house was having one place where we can pretend to be human." Josh said as we walked down a hallway.

He pushed my hands away and tried to force me down but I snapped his neck before he could really do anything.

"Shit."

"The prey dines and lives with the hunters." He sneered at me.

"I have no issues with vampires and werewolves like you do." I reminded him.

"We found a wolf here in town. He'll be weak tonight. Half the group are going after him while the other half go after a blood den the vampires are set up all over the city. Join us. Avenge your parents and take out the leeches that crawl around in the dirt." I stared at him as my phone continued to go off. I looked at it and saw Josh's name on the screen. He was supposed to be locked up and turning, why was he calling me? Was he the wolf they were going after?

* * *

_Life is a series of choices. As it turns out, death is the same. Not for the ones who are ready. They embrace their fate, move on. For the rest of us, we linger. After our survivors pray and throw dirt on our coffins, we're still waiting, because for some of us, there's a bigger question… what am I now? Where do I go from here? We find ourselves in an eternal nowhere between human and thing. Monsters. Some of these monsters chose to simply accept what they've is on its way. Some don't. Which leaves us with the most important choice. Do you accept what you are, or do you refuse? And which is the true curse?_

"You going to ignore me know." He asked me as I stared down at my phone.

"Yes, actually." I said before I listened to the message Josh had left me.

"Nikol, I'm in the cellar. It's locked and my sister's here… please… help me…." Josh begged and I stared in shock at nothing.

"If you go after the blood dens and werewolf in town, our people will die again. Don't move until I say." I told him before rushing off to help Josh. When I arrived Aiden was looking in the little window at Josh and Josh's sister, Emily, was sitting on the floor. I went to her and helped her up before the three of us moved away from him.

* * *

"What do you mean he has a condition?" she asked us when we loosely explained what was happening to her.

"He's your brother. You should ask him yourself." Aiden told her.

"My brother had a nervous breakdown and ran away from his family two years ago. He doesn't tell my anything." She told us and I sighed lightly. "If he's in some kind of trouble…"

"No, no, no. He's a good guy. He's a great roommate." Aiden assured her. "He's dealing with some stuff, yeah, but aren't we all?"

"Does he… Does he have any friends?" she asked us.

"Josh? You kidding me? Yeah." He told her.

"Cause he never really did." She told us and I smiled lightly. Somethings never change about people.

"Oh, come on." Aiden said giving her a look but she shook her head and mouthed no. "Ok, he's quirky."

"And takes some getting used to." I added.

"Ya think?" she asked us with a small laugh.

"He talks about you, you know." Aiden told her. "Um, what he said was that he always studied so hard learning medicine, how to save a life, but that you were the one who knew how to truly live." She smiled and looked down at her hands briefly.

"Did he say that?" she asked me.

"Yeah, he really did." I told her. She covered her mouth and rested her head in her hand.

"I… I can't believe my sweet brother went mad." She said quietly. "Our mother did too, you know. Bet he didn't tell you that. Yeah, you wouldn't know it now. She's back on the tennis court – book club circuit. The incident has been neatly filed away. Just our little family curse."

"I think we're all a little cursed that way." Aiden told her.

"Please." She said giving him a look. "You're hot! You both are!" she said giving me the same look.

"Doesn't mean we're completely happy with ourselves." I told her as Aiden took a deep breath next to me.

"What can I do for you? Can I call somebody?" Aiden asked Emily but she shook her head.

"Jackie's waiting for me upstairs." She told us. "God, what if he never even gets to meet Jackie? I really wanted to rub it in his face that I ended up with a shiksa goddess." She told us. I laughed lightly before she left to be with her girlfriend and Aiden and I went home.

* * *

The next morning Aiden snuck into the cellar and opened the door for Josh as well as some clothes and food before joining Sally and I at home again.

"How are you?" Sally asked him when he walked into the house.

"Well, I didn't kill my sister so I guess I can't complain." Josh told her sitting on the back of the couch.

"Josh, I'm really sorry. I tried. I just couldn't." Sally tried explaining to him. She told me how he called the house and begged her for help. Aiden and I had guessed when he couldn't get a hold of either of us we called her for help.

"It's ok." He told her.

"Really?" she asked him.

"Sure. I mean, I don't even know what I expected you to do." He told her.

"Get either Aiden or me to move our asses faster." I joked and he just took a deep breath as Sally danced in place with a large smile on her face.

"What?" Josh asked her.

"I'm just trying to figure our an acceptable amount of time to pass before I tell you something." She said and I sighed. He motioned for her to continue. "Ok. Danny's coming over."

"What?" he asked her.

"And I'm really, really glad you didn't kill your sister." She added in.

"What?" he asked again looking at me.

"It'll be fine." I told him.

"Aiden!" Josh called moving around me to Aiden who was in the kitchen reading a magazine. "Aiden, why – why is Danny coming over?"

"Sally really, really wanted to see him." Aiden told him before making an explosion sound next to his head and I motioned to the very backed up sink with black water.

"Sorry." She apologized again.

"Ok, am I the only one who thinks that Danny coming over is a tremendously bad idea?" Josh asked us. "What if he sees you?"

"I'll crap rainbows, I swear to God!" she laughed.

"She's a ghost. He ain't gonna see her." Aiden said.

"You worry way too much Josh." I added in.

"Well, wait, sometimes they do see them, normal people." Aiden chimed up.

"But that's a one in a million chance that we happen to be renting a house from someone who does." I reminded him. "He would have to be open, mentally."

"Danny's pretty open." Sally told us. "He voted for Hillary."

"Not that kind of open." I said staring at her.

"It's fine." Aiden assured Josh again.

"Ok, look, if he sees you, if he senses you, do you have any idea what that would do to him? What it would do to us? He could sell the place! He could raise it! He could sell tickets like that guy who saw Jesus on the taco shell!" we all gave him a strange look for a second before he started freaking out some more. "Listen, if he comes, I think that Sally should stay upstairs."

"And I think that you don't get a say." Sally told him. Aiden put his magazine down and crossed his arms and I looked at her apologetically. We really couldn't be too careful. With our running luck so far we would be the one in a million. "On the stairs. At least!" she begged us before someone knocked on the door. She held her hands in a praying position giving us all a puppy dog look.

"Top of the stairs." Josh told her and she got excited before running there. "And no peeking!" Aiden got up from his seat and we all walked into the living room.

"Oh, just… don't be weird, ok?" He told Josh.

"Yea, I got it." Josh told him.

"You too, Amityville." Aiden told Sally who was sitting on the stairs. "Top of the stairs."

"Everyone just be… normal." He told us.

"The Vampire said to the Werewolf, the Fay, and the Ghost." I said and he gave me a look.

"Got it." Josh told him as he went to open the door. When we walked back in Danny was with him sporting a grim smile.

"Hey." Danny greeted.

"Hi." I greeted.

"Top of the morning to you, captain!" Josh said in an Irish accent before laughing. We all stared at him before the lights exploded from around us. We spent another few seconds in silence before Aiden jumped in.

"So, do you wanna check out the sink first, or…" Aiden said to Danny.

"I'm just gonna go check on the…" Josh said before dashing upstairs.

"Wait, upstairs?" Danny asked him and Josh turned to him. "Breakers are in the basement."

"Yeah, right, it's in the basement. Sure, but I've got a lot of stuff. There's stuff plugged in upstairs that I've got for work." Josh rambled. "A lave lamp, radio. Probably too many things. A power strip plugged into another power strip…"

"So the sink." Aiden said putting his hand on Danny's shoulder and leading him into the kitchen. I gave a look to Josh before following them. Danny poked his head under the sink and started working while Aiden and I watched.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Aiden asked him. Danny looked up from his work to Aiden and scoffed.

"You know, when I bought this place, I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to learn how to fix stuff, you know? And then I had to move out. Everyone who moved in complained about the plumbing. And yea… I still have no idea. I'm gonna have to come back with some books." He told us.

"Good enough." Aiden told him.

"Hey, look, I know this place has a certain…" Danny said trying to think of the word.

"Character?" Josh provided.

"Yeah, but it's been ok here for you guys?" Danny asked us. "Nothing… Nothing weird's happened or anything?"

"Define weird." Aiden told him.

"Well, just things people have said since I moved out, that it's I don't know, creepy." Danny told us. I looked behind us to see Sally peeking out from the stairs and took a deep breath.

"I wouldn't say that." Aiden told him.

"We like creepy." Josh said with a large smile on his face.

"And that's why we put up with this one every day." I said smiling at him and he just gave me a look.

"I think every home has an echo of the people who lived there before." Aiden told Danny.

"Yeah," Danny said with a smile. "I guess I never really thought of it like that."

"There's a good echo here." Aiden told him.

"One of the best I've felt in a long time." I agreed before we all moved into the living room.

"I, uh… How did she…" Josh tried asking him making us all stop next to Sally and the stairs. "If you don't mind my asking…"

"Yeah, how did she die." Danny said, filling in the rest of the question. "We'd just moved in. And the electrical was all… well, you know… We watched, um… Marley and Me, but she made me turn it off when he had trouble getting up the stairs. We went up to bed. She had this thing where she would always get up to go to the bathroom the second she got into bed. And there was no light in the hall, and… she turned the wrong way. And uh…"

"She went… down the stairs." Aiden finished.

"Yeah, when she didn't come back to bed, I went to see if she was ok. Then I found her. Right there." He said pointing to the corner of the stairs.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine the shock." Aiden said as I stared at the spot before looking at Sally who was staring at the floor.

"No, it's ok." Danny told him.

"What was she like?" I asked him.

"Ha! Sally?" he asked with a large smile on his face and I nodded with a smile of my own. "She was amazing! She was… she lit up the place, you know, everywhere she went! She was the best thing that ever happened to me. But that's for VH1 Behind the Music, right?" he asked.

"Were you in a band or…" Josh asked with a large smile on his face. I shook my head and sighed.

"I'm, uh, gonna come back for that sink." Danny told us before leaving.

* * *

Later that day we all had to work at the hospital. We all normally did our own thing, Josh being an orderly and Aiden and I being nurses, but the occasional bump in was always bound to happen. As I was doing my rounds I saw Aiden talking with Cara, the temp nurse for Rebecca. I watched as he clenched his fist before running from her. Last I'd seen he'd been doing fine not drinking fresh blood, of course that was also around the time Rebecca disappeared. I worked my shift with no incidents from any supernatural which was a relief. When I was getting ready to go home I decided to wait for Aiden and Josh like we all normally did. Aiden was the first one to arrive and we talked about our day as he got ready to go home.

"Hey!" Josh said drawing our attention to him as he made his way to us.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Aiden asked him.

"You turned her into a vampire." Josh said.

"What?" Aiden asked him.

"Don't do that!" Josh told him. "Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"Why don't you share with the rest of the class?" I asked him.

"Rebecca." Josh said and I looked up between them.

"Just…" Aiden said waiting for people to pass us by. "Rebecca's dead."

"Oh! Oh…" Josh said making a face like he clearly didn't believe our friend. "Is that right? We thought she was missing! Unless he told you?" he asked me and I shook my head.

"I was just as much in the dark as you were." I told him.

"She just jumped me outside." He told us and I have him a curious look. Aiden looked at him confused and I shook my head at him, but could I really judge him?

"You had to turn Rebecca." Josh accused him.

"Josh…" Aiden tried explaining.

"Stop lying, Aiden!" Josh told him.

"I swear I didn't know." Aiden told us, looking directly at me.

"You didn't know what?" Josh asked him. "That you turned her into a monster or that she'd be such a good one?" Aiden just shook his head at Josh and covered his mouth with his hand. "No, what's the point of any of this, of playing house, of – of drinking beers, of joining Costco if you're just gonna kill all our friends?" Josh asked him before taking a deep breath and leaving.

"Did you know she'd been turned?" I asked him and he shook his head at me.

"You're not the only one who slipped and lied about it. Mine just can't come back and bit me in the ass." I told him before leaving.

"What do you mean?" he asked following me.

"That guy I saw when you went out with Rebecca, he attacked me and I killed him. I erased my presence from the house but…" I stopped talking and shook my head. "The only reason I didn't say anything is because he can't come back. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I had it taken care of. I called for a cleanup." He told me. "It was taken care of."

"You called Bishop?!" I asked shocked before looking to make sure no one could hear us. "Of all the people to call you call the one person who wants you to start ripping people's throats out?" I asked him. I shook my head before I turned to leave. "I'll be at home later tonight. Don't wait up." I told him before leaving the hospital.

* * *

I walked around town well past sunset before I started moving towards home. The only thing that stopped me was my phone ringing. Aiden. I sighed before answering.

"Hello." I answered.

"I know you're angry at me, but you should meet me at the bar. Josh is coming over." Aiden told me.

"That's surprising." I told him.

"Cara's here." He told me and I froze.

"Which bar? I'll be there as soon as I can." I told him before turning and going to the bar he told me about. I moved as quickly as I could without hurting anyone. When I finally made it I saw both Josh and Aiden leaning over something in the alley with Rebecca next to them the lower half of her face covered in blood.

"Oh my god." I rushed to them to see Cara slowly dying from the blood loss.

"There's too much blood." Josh said trying to stop the bleeding.

"Well someone had to do it and you were taking your sweet ass time." Rebecca said. "Mmm! I highly recommend a bar kill." She said licking her lips. "She was sweet. A little oaky and cheap, but still best Saturday night I've had in a long time."

"If we don't get help, she's going to die." Josh said.

"It's too late. Theirs's nothing we can do for her now. The ambulance wouldn't get here in time." I told him.

"Oh, don't look so tragic." Rebecca said leaning down next to us. "Give her a sip. She'll be fine."

"Is that true? Can you save her?" Josh asked Aiden.

"It won't be saving her." Aiden told him.

"Aw, that's right. You prefer to leave your conquests for dead." Rebecca said standing and leaving us alone.

"I'd prefer you even more dead than you are now." I told her.

"If you can save her… please." Josh begged Aiden.

"I can't!" Aiden said again. "I'm sorry." We all looked down to her to see she'd stopped breathing as we heard sirens coming our way.

* * *

Later that night, we all sat in the hospital with blood on our clothes as the police talked close by.

"So, this is it?" Josh asked. "It's over isn't it?"

"No." Aiden said.

"They'll trace Cara to Rebecca and Rebecca to you." Josh said speaking of how the way humans do things.

"No." Aiden said again. "We're spread so far. Our networks run so deep. This happens all the time." Aiden explained looking to the police. I looked to them and my eyes widened at the cop. It was the blonde man I'd seen when my parents died in the attack all those years ago.

"Aiden who is that?" I asked him.

"Bishop." I looked to him shocked and sat back in shock before getting up and walking to another part of the hospital.

"Now you know what he's been hiding from you. A chance to avenge your parents. He's probably protecting the other one too." Mikael said coming out of one of the darker corners here.

"You leave Aiden and Josh alone and I'll help you until Bishop and the red haired man are dead." I told him.

"One condition. If anything should happen to me you take your rightful place as our ruler." He said holding out a flask I knew would have an ancient wine used when making blood pacts. I took a scalpel from a tray and handed it to him. He cut his palm and put some of his blood into the flask before handing me the scalpel. I grabbed it and cut into my hand dropping my blood into the wine. He took a swig and I followed suit before we clasped our injured hands.

"Now the Blood Pact is sealed." I said.

"If either should break the deal, we both shall die." He told me with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Later after we were allowed to leave, we were all in the living room just thinking about the events of tonight except for Aiden who was sitting on the steps outside.

"I never really thought about it before." Josh said as he stared out the window to Aiden with Sally next to him. "How hard he must work every single second of his life not to be one of them. I guess I just take it for granted he's as good as he is."

"Do you think he should have saved her?" Sally asked him.

"He did." I told her. Josh then grabbed Aiden some blood and heated it up before we joined him on the steps as Sally stood at the door way.


	3. Something to Watch Over Me

Previously on Four Monsters, One Roof:

"You know there's a better way to do this." Aiden said.

"Do what?" Josh asked him. "Be a better monster?

"What about the apartment?" Aiden asked.

"It's perfect. We'll have full moon parties. We'll invite the neighbors over and eat them." Josh said quietly.

"I'm Sally. Hi!" she said happily.

"She's a ghost." I told him.

"You were supposed to marry what's-his-face, weren't you?" Josh asked her.

"Danny, yes." She said sadly.

"Right, so why don't you just go haunt him?" Josh asked.

"I would love to just open that door and magically walk back into the life that was ripped away from me." Sally told him.

He tried to force me down but I snapped his neck before he could really do anything.

"Shit." I said staring at the body.

"We found a wolf here in town. He'll be weak tonight." Mikael told me.

Josh then grabbed Aiden some blood and heated it up before we joined him on the steps as Sally stood at the door way.

"You leave Aiden and Josh alone and I'll help you until Bishop and the red haired man are dead." I told him.

"One condition. If anything should happen to me you take your rightful place as our ruler."

"Now the Blood Pact is sealed." I said.

"If either should break the deal, we both shall die." He told me with a smirk on his face.

* * *

_Live forever. Travel the world in a million different ways. Know every lover you could possibly want. Immortality. What's not to love? There's just one thing they leave out of the pitch. Time, that endless, sucking time. No closing bell, no quarter. No measure but memories, those haunting memories. Slice 'em, dice 'em, rue 'em. Do it again. And realize there's only one true thing. It is impossible to live forever perfectly._

I looked at the cut on my palm and shook my head. I know my deal saved my friends, but now I had to find the red headed vampire and kill both him and Bishop. I sighed as I made my way back home alone. When I arrived Josh was coming home with some groceries for us.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Hey. Where you been?" he asked me.

"Just out clearing my head." I told him as we walked up the steps. I unlocked the door and we both went inside only to be shocked when we saw a large group of people in our living room. "What the hell is this?" I asked confused as Aiden came to us.

"Tell me you brought more coffee." He told Josh taking the bags from him.

"What? Wait, wait, wait. Who are these people?" Josh asked him as we followed him towards the kitchen.

"Oh yea." Aiden turned to the strangers. "Everybody this is Josh and Nikol. Josh, Nikol, meet the neighbors." They all turned to us and said hi and I waved awkwardly before rushing with Josh to the empty kitchen.

"You invited the entire neighborhood? Are you insane?" Josh asked him.

"What are we doing if we can't say hi to the neighbors?" Aiden asked him. Josh and I shared a look before he took the groceries from Aiden and put them on the counter with me and Aiden following him.

"No one says hi to the neighbors anymore." Josh told him. "You know why? 'Cause we're the neighbors!"

"Josh, it is a party. Relax. Now. I should make a 7-layer dip right?" Aiden asked us.

"No." Josh answered. "No, you shouldn't."

"Do you even know how to make a 7-layer dip?" I asked him.

"No, but it can't be that hard right?" he asked me.

"Yea, it is." I told him as Sally joined us.

"How's it going out there?" Aiden asked him.

"Hmm, let's see, we've got Edie, the dry drunk, Ben, the closet racist, April, the psychopath masseuse. You've invited every neighbor I've ever hated to be part of your neighborhood watch." He told him and I gave him a look.

"Neighborhood what?" Josh asked her and she made that 'I shouldn't have said anything' face before turning around.

"Mingling." She said before leaving the three of us alone. Josh and I both stared at Aiden who look nervous about saying anything.

"Just hear me out." He told us.

"Hear what out?" Josh asked him. "It makes perfect sense! Who better to watch over a neighborhood than a couple of monsters?"

"Josh!" Aiden hissed at him. "We need to be a part of thins. This is a part of things." Aiden said before going back to the living room.

"He's got a point." I told Josh.

"Don't go on his side just because he's your friend." He told me.

"I'm not, but he's right and deep down you know it. Besides this is a good way to make sure we keep any supernatural things out of their lives." I told him. "We wanted a normal human life and now we have it." I went and joined Aiden in the living room as a girl stood in front of everyone.

"I know you've all seen these around the hood. Take a good look at the enemy, people." She handed the paper she was holding to someone and they started passing it around. "Some art-school tagger thinks that our personal property is his personal artwork? Uh-uh! Not anymore. This joker's left his exploding mushroom on our stoops, our mailboxes, our churches…" I saw Josh move to Sally before paying attention to this people around me again.

"Jim, how many times have you had to clean this off your mailbox?" a woman asked him.

"Three times!" Jim told us and the neighbors continued chatting about this problem.

"Welcome Officer Michael Garrity, our police liaison who has so kindly come by to say a few words to us tonight." She said as the officer in civilian clothes joined her up front. "Thank you officer." Everyone applauded.

"Thanks. Well, welcome, everybody, and just a thank you and a quick reminder: no heroes out there. Observe and report only. Leave the hairy stuff to us cops. We've got better insurance than you do." He joked and some people laughed.

"Great! Ok, so the sign-up sheet is being passed around." Aiden grabbed some of the dirty dishes and started taking them to the kitchen as the sign-up sheet started going round.

_So, go ahead. Live forever. Forget what you've forgotten. But they won't. They never do._

* * *

The next morning we were all getting ready to leave the house and I was in the bathroom fixing my hair as Aiden was brushing his teeth and Sally was asking him questions.

"So, vampires brush their teeth, but they don't eat?" she asked.

"Un, not for sustenance, no, but maybe for appearances every now and then." He told her.

"And the whole sunlight thing, like, shouldn't you explode when you go outside?" she asked him and we both turned and gave her a look.

"Explode? Really?" I asked her.

"What? I don't know! Vampires and throw up scared the crap out of me as a kid." She told us.

"You aren't the only one." I told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked me.

"When I was a kid my people were pretty much at war with the vampires and had skirmishes with the werewolves once a month." I told her. "Anyway, back to the sunlight question." I said smiling at Aiden and he sighed.

"Um… let's just say that we evolved. We used to be nocturnal. Now we're photosensitive." He answered.

"Why would he come all the way over here and then not stay?" she asked us. "Is my energy or whatever so awful?" she asked as Aiden spit his toothpaste into the sink.

"Who?" I asked her.

"Danny." She said. "Is he such a pansy ass that he can't handle a little spookiness?"

"Maybe it wasn't you who creeped him out." Aiden offered her.

"Aiden's right, maybe it was just the fact that his old house was filled with his old neighbors and it brought back memories he'd tried forgetting." I said.

"Or maybe it was Josh." He joked. "Ok, um, you want closure, don't you? You want resolution. Well, maybe Danny not staying, maybe that's your closure."

"That doesn't make any sense." She told him. "Closure is satisfying, indefinite. This is murky and depressing."

"Look, maybe the key to you moving on is moving past Danny." He offered her. "Like, what if you met someone else? Someone more like you."

"What do you mean?" she asked him confused before Josh walked in.

"Its…" Josh looked to Sally as she adjusted herself. "here."

"What's here?" she asked him.

"Nothing." Josh said. "But it's downstairs. You told her, right?"

"He was building up to it." I told him.

"Guys…" she started trying to say.

"Hey." A ghost with a mullet greeted her from behind making her scream with him joining.

"Why is Axel Rose standing in my bathtub?" she asked confused. "Why aren't you killing him?"

"Sally, this is Tony." Aiden introduced.

"He's a ghost." Josh told her.

"Shut up!" before looking him over. "You're a ghost?"

"You're a genius." He said sarcastically.

"When did you die?" he asked.

"'87." He answered.

"Why are you wearing makeup?" she asked him.

"Why aren't you?" he countered. "Let's start over." He said getting out of the bathtub. "Tony DiPaulo! Nice to meet you." He offered her his hand to shake. She looked at it, before looking to us. I nodded to his hand and she rolled her eyes before taking his hand. Actually grabbing it. She smiled brightly before laughing and shaking his hand.

"I can't believe it!" she laughed.

"So, we're good here?" Josh asked before the three of us slipped out to go to work.

* * *

"Marcus." I said as I sat outside during my lunch hour. "What are you doing here?"

"I had an idea." He told me smirking.

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"To get to our targets we need bait." He said and I could see the wheels in his mind turning.

"No." I ordered.

"Aiden is the perfect bait. My sources say that Bishop, the blonde vampire, wants Aiden on his side. We use your little friend and then get him out before he is hurt." He suggested.

"No." I said making sure he understood. "We will not use either Aiden or Josh. They are off limits as stated in our pact and you will abide by these rules as will all who serve you." I stood with my food in my hand before tossing it in the trash and going back to work. "Marcus, remember that if you go against the pact we made then you will die."

"As will you. We are joined until the pact is complete." He reminded me as I left him alone on the bench.

* * *

That night I was sitting in a bar with the rest of the neighborhood watch. Josh was on the phone with a missing Aiden as I drank a beer. I joined him as he started walking to the girl who spoke last night and the man beside her.

"No answer?" I asked him.

"Nope." He answered as we walked to the two of them.

"Hey! Josh and Nikol?" he asked us and I nodded.

"Armband. Walkie-talkie." The girl said giving us one each.

"Wow! We mean business, huh?" Josh said taking the items from her.

"Yeah." She told us seriously. "Every two minutes there's a sexual assault in this country. I pray to God one didn't happen while we were waiting for you." We stared at her in shock for a moment. "Just kidding." She said smiling at us before doing something else. We turned to the man next to her and he shook his head mouthing 'no she's not'.

"So… where do we start?" I asked hoping to get away from the woman and her strange knowledge.

* * *

"This is incredible." The man Josh had met at the house, Jesse, said as we walked along the sidewalk. "You actually dropped out of MIT med school?"

"Well, no. No, I never actually enrolled." Josh told him.

"So, what, internet?" he asked. "You started some internet thing. I hate you."

"Me? No, I actually I kind of went the other way." Josh told him and he laughed. "Dude…"

"Dude what?" Josh asked him.

"Nothing. It's just… I respect it. That's all." He told him. "And you?"

"Nursing school." I told him. "We work at the same hospital in fact."

"Which school?" he asked me curiously.

"Pennsylvania." I told him.

"Wow!" he said amazed. "How'd you afford that?"

"Parents left me a lot of money when they died." I told them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Jesse started.

"It's fine, Jesse." I told him as we continued our search of the mushroom painting we were supposed to be hunting down.

* * *

Later that night Josh, Jesse, Tessa (the woman with the strange knowledge), and I were all sitting around watching TV when Sally and Tony appeared out of nowhere laughing and holding hands.

"We're moving places all over the house. On purpose!" Sally told us but neither Josh nor I could say anything to her and not look strange. "Oh! Look at you two! You made friends!"

"Oh, I love this movie!" Tony said getting comfortable behind the house.

"Oh, I love this!" Sally said sitting on the arm of the couch next to Josh. Josh looked like he wanted to say something but thought better against it and put his hand in his mouth instead.

"You okay?" Jesse asked him. "Throat?"

"No." Josh answered quickly. "What? No. I had a frog in my throat." The two boys chuckled and Josh sent Sally a look.

"Okay, okay. We'll go." She told him turning to Tony. "Should we do the bathroom again?"

"No." he told her. "You're ready." He told her extending his hand.

"For what?" she asked him and he gave her a look. "No." she said once she understood he meant to leave the house.

"So ready." Josh whispered.

"Just focus." Tony told Sally taking her hand. "Like we've been doing." They moved to where they appeared and she closed her eyes taking a deep breath.

"Wet leaves, chimney smoke… birds… the neighbor's dog…" and with that they both disappeared causing me to smile happily for her.

* * *

The next day I made my way to a library which was a cover for the Dark Fay. The way our culture worked was different than most would imagine. All Fay were seekers of knowledge but the Dark Fay shared what they learned over the centuries while Light Fay coveted what they knew, never revealing anything without a price. The Light Fay were our darker halves: demons who look like angels. Over the two factions of Fay was the royal family. Queen Tatiana and King Oberon as well as their many children. I made my way to the front desk and smiled down at the familiar face.

"Nikol." She breathed out in shock.

"Hello, sister." I said smiling at her.

"Marcus told me you would return to our home, but I didn't expect you to actually do it." She told me.

"I'm not returning. I came for information." I told her.

"Information on what?" she asked me and my smile faltered.

"The night the wolves and vampires attacked us." I told her and her eyes widened.

"We do not speak of that night here, sister." She told me sternly.

"Marcus and I are going to kill those who killed our parents." I told her. "I know who one of the murderers is and I need to know more of the other."

"You know one of the vampires who took them from us?" she asked me and I nodded.

"In order to devise a sound plan I need the information I know you have on them." I told her. She knew what information I spoke of. Forbidden words, even to us.

"I'll see what deals can be made." She told me weakly. "Only because you made the blood pact." She glared at me. "How can you take away the only one who has stood for us? The only one who never abandoned me?" She started to cry and I schooled my face. He lied to her, why? What does he gain from it?

"Send word to me when the deals are made." I said turning from her. I only allowed myself to cry when I was far enough from the library the spies could not see.

* * *

That night I walked with Josh and Jesse for the neighborhood watch again.

"Oh, hey, I got an interview at Suffolk County." Jesse told us. "Yeah, residency."

"Oh yea?" Josh asked him. "That's… good for you."

"Yeah, isn't that where you…" Jesse started to ask him. "Isn't that where you do your orderly and nurse thing or…?"

"Uh-huh." Josh confirmed. Josh stopped walking and started taking deep breathes of the air.

"What?" Jesse asked him.

"Josh you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He told me. "I'm smelling paint." He said before running off.

"Must be fresh then." I said to Jesse before we followed him.

"What paint?" Jesse asked. When we turned the corner we saw a man taking down a stencil of his artwork and Josh choking him.

"Jesse call the police, now!" I told him making my way to Josh and the artist. "Josh let him go." I told the werewolf. It was close to the full moon, way to close for Josh not to tap into his wolf side.

"I called the police, yeah!" Jesse said when he ran up to us. "You hear that? I called the police!"

"Josh all we have to do is hold him down till they get here." I told him trying to get him off the man.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Josh!" Jesse called out to him. "Josh, they're on their way, man."

"Josh ease up!" I shouted at him.

"Josh! Josh, Josh! Chill!" Jesse tried, but it was too late. The man stopped resisting and his arms fell to his side. "Dude…" Josh got up as the sirens started approaching and quickly walked away. I checked for a pulse before following the young wolf.

* * *

"Where were you?" Sally asked us when we got home.

"Oh, you know. Just keeping the streets of Boston safe for all the little children." Josh told her taking off his jacket.

"You ok?" she asked him.

"Yeah." He replied and I shook my head at her. "Where were you, Ozzfest?"

"Danny's." she answered after giving him a small look and he sighed.

"I thought the whole point of this was to move on." He said to her.

"Make that two." I told him.

"Don't worry." She said not meeting our eyes. "I guess I can live at Danny's now."

"I don't want you to live at Danny's." he told her.

"I only meant move on as in spiritually, not physically." I added to her.

"What if that's what I need to do to move on?" she asked.

"Ok." He nodded and moved to sit in front of her. "Maybe you're not trying to move on. Maybe you're trying to stay."

"If I leave, he'll forget me." She said.

"Sally, no one who knows you could forget you." I told her with a smile. "But he also needs to move on."

"If you stay he'll move on right in front of you, and it'll hurt a lot worse." He told her and she rested her chin on her knee. "You're not here."

"I'm lonely." She admitted.

"Me too." Josh told her.

"We all are." I said.

* * *

"I'm not turning into it at the hospital anymore." Josh told us as we walked along the streets.

"Why not?" Aiden asked him. "That room is perfect."

"The woods are better." Josh insisted.

"I think Josh might be right this time Aiden." I chimed in. "Anyone could follow him into that room like his sister did. The hospital room will be used as a second option and until we find another room safely away from prying people the woods will do." We all stood in silence our thought filling our heads.

"We're not quite real, are we?" Josh asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"The closer I bring that side of me to real people, the more people I seem to hurt." He explained. "I can't hurt anybody else."

"Josh I told you already, that man last night lived." I told him.

"Some things just need to stay separate." He insisted. We heard a door open to a small house and turned to see Officer Garrity open the door and step out. He stared straight ahead for a moment before looking down and picking up the paper before going back inside. "Didn't you need to talk to him?" Josh asked.

"No, I'm good." Aiden said with a small smile. "You ready?" he called after us as we looked at him in confusion.

"Ok?" we quickly followed him.

* * *

I was walking home from work when someone stepped in my path.

"Can I help you?" I asked her confused.

"From the library. Don't hold it too long." She told me handing me a book. I took it from her with a nod before going home. I sat at the kitchen table and stared at the book for some time before finally opening it and reading what happened that night in detail.


	4. Wouldn't it be Nice (If We Were Human)

Previously on Four Monsters, One Roof:

"Shit." I said staring at the body. I quickly made it look like an accident and took away anything that could lead back to me before walking away back to my hotel room where Aiden was. I guess I forgot to mention, I'm Fay. And unlike my vampire and werewolf friends, Aiden and Josh, I was one of the very, very few.

* * *

"You turned her into a vampire." Josh said.

"Rebecca's dead." Aiden told us.

"Stop lying, Aiden!" Josh told him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him.

"I called for a clean up." He told me.

* * *

"You leave Aiden and Josh alone and I'll help you until Bishop and the red haired man are dead." I told him.

"One condition. If anything should happen to me you take your rightful place as our ruler." He said holding out a flask.

"Now the Blood Pact is sealed." I said.

"If either should break the deal, we both shall die." He told me with a smirk on his face.

* * *

_Quick, what's the world's most rapidly evaporating resource? Oil? Water? Fresh air? Not even close._

I was sitting in my room, reading the file as memories flashed before my eyes.

_When's the last time you were truly alone – When you didn't think to yourself, "Somebody's watching me."? A person can wonder for an eternity these days before finding a place where they can be himself, let go –_

* * *

"_**There's a few of them breaking off from the main group!" I shouted at Mikael. "I'm going after them! Hold the line!"**_

* * *

_Howl at the moon. How did we let this happen to us?_

* * *

_**I snuck to where I saw the splintered group go to see two vampires draining my parents.**_

* * *

_Why do we insist on looking when every impulse tell us, "Look away."?_

* * *

_**I raced across the floor separating them from me, but the vampires just smiled before disappearing. I dropped to my parents' sides and pulled my mother close before screaming.**_

* * *

_Maybe it's because we all have something to hide. That thing we bury down deep. Beat back into the darkness with everything we have._

I spent the following years killing every werewolf and vampire trying to find the one who took my family from me, before I met Aiden.

_We're secretly hoping to see if the monster inside each of us is inside us all. There it is. Look hard enough. You'll see it. You will be seen._

* * *

The next morning, Aiden and I were getting ready in the kitchen when Josh walked in the house.

"We're late. Shower up." Aiden told him. Josh went straight to the fridge and dug though it as Aiden and I stared at his clothes. White wife beater and baggy with pants with black zig-zags like stripes on them. "Why are you dressed like a douche?" Aiden asked him as he tried walking away from us.

"Because a douche gave me these clothes." Josh told us. "No, sorry. A werewolf douche gave me these clothes."

"Seriously?" Aiden and I asked him.

"Oh, I'm dead serious." He told us. "Yeah, Ray, the werewolf, he's been watching me."

"No." Aiden denied.

"Yes!" Josh said as the microwave beeped at Aiden. "Just when I start to think that there's hope, like real hope for me to be like everybody else, I wake up, and I'm in hell."

"I'm in hell!" Sally said walking into the kitchen at the perfect moment for her to talk with Josh. "I died, and now I'm actually in hell."

"You two?" I asked her and Aiden threw me a look.

"What happened to you?" Aiden asked her.

"Aiden, Nikol and I were actually just talking about how I'm in hell, but whatever, let's talk about you." Josh said.

"I just spent my night watching Danny and Bridget simper and swoon over each other." Sally told him. "If I had bodily fluids, I'd spew all them right now."

"Please don't give the house ideas." I told her and Aiden nudged me.

"Who is Bridget?" Aiden asked her.

"My best friend, who I've known since third grade, who I now realize is also a brutal whore." Sally told us.

"You can come and go as you please, though, now, right?" Aiden asked her.

"Yea, why didn't you just leave?" Josh asked her.

"That's just it. I didn't have control." She told us.

"How did you not have control?" I asked her.

"Apparently, I go wherever my mind goes. So, I didn't want to watch Danny and Bridget together, so I left. But then I couldn't stop thinking about them together. Next thing I know, wham."

"You're watching them together." Josh said.

"It's a vicious cycle." Sally sighed before jumping up onto the counter. "Why are you dressed like a douche?"

"Josh met another werewolf." Aiden told her.

"Aw!" Sally said all sweetly.

"Who's stalking him." I added.

"Ew."

"I'm going to shower." Josh told us getting up and walking out of the kitchen.

"What do I do?" Sally asked us.

"Well, I'll tell you what you do. You, uh – you be strong and focus on other things." He told her.

"Maybe I'll have your willpower after I've been around for a century or two." She told him and we shared a look. She jumped off the counter and walked away before he took a drink of his blood. He made a face before putting it back in the microwave.

"How was your night?" I asked him.

"Fine. Stopped by the bookstore, but nothing caught my eye." He told me staring at the microwave.

"Ok." I said, nodding. He knew I knew he was lying, but he wouldn't say anything.

"What'd you do last night?" he asked.

"Relived the past, and no, I don't want to talk about it." I told him.

"You sure?" he asked me.

"I created my own hell. I have to deal with it myself." I told him.

* * *

I was walking around the hospital when I saw Aiden and Josh talking with someone.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked them.

"This is Ray." Aiden told me and my eyes widened.

"Josh's Ray?" I asked and he nodded.

"He's not my Ray." Josh told me getting irritated.

"All I'm asking for is one cup of coffee." Ray told him.

"You know what, Ray?" Josh asked him before Aiden jumped in.

"Ray, can we have a minute?" Aiden asked him before pulling me and Josh across the hall.

"Why are we pulling me along?" I asked him.

"You want to stay alone with Ray?" he asked me sarcastically.

"No, not really." I said.

"He knows where I work, that we're roommates." Josh complained.

"Can I just say something?" Aiden asked him.

"What, you want me to hang out with this lunatic? Seriously?" Josh asked him.

"Josh, you are a rare breed, but don't you think it might be good to spend time with someone like you?" Aiden asked him. We looked at Ray to see him picking his nose.

"No, not really." Josh told him. "See, the one thing that I've been able to deal with this thing that I carry around with me is keep it small. Ok? I deserve to contain my own private hell. And now this guy pops up, and suddenly there's two of us. If I let him in, it – it all gets bigger."

"You might think you want to live in your own private hell, but trust me you don't." I told him.

"Josh, you may only change once a month, but your anxiety about who you are, what you are, it consumes you." Aiden told him and Josh took a deep breath. "It's not small."

"Plus, you don't know how long he's been a werewolf. Maybe he can teach you what Aiden and I can't." I suggested and Josh stared us down for a moment before going to Ray.

"One cup of coffee. Tomorrow." Josh told him before walking away.

"Sweet!" Ray said excitedly. "That's awesome bro!" Josh stopped and turned to face Ray.

"We're not bros." Josh told him before continuing on his way.

"You going to take you own advice?" Aiden asked me.

"Are you?" I asked him. We stared at each other before separating.

* * *

The rest of my shift was uneventful and I spent my time off at the park, watching the families in front of me.

"We used to be that happy." I smiled at the voice as my sister sat next to me. "What happened to us?"

"The war." I said.

"Mom and dad were killed by a vampire. Why do you want to follow them?" she asked me. "And why take my husband down with you?"

"I didn't initiate the pact." I told her. "He did."

"Why are you still lying to me?" she sighed. "Mikael and I have kids, Nikol."

"You never told me that." I said glancing at her.

"If you stopped by in the last few centuries, you'd know." She told me and I sighed.

"Alisa…"

"Stop." She told me. "Mikael didn't want me coming to see you."

"Of course he didn't." I laughed. "He doesn't want you to know the truth."

"I know the truth." She told me firmly. "Mikael told me everything. You're so hellbent on revenge that you forced him into a blood pact to save me from losing you."

"You oversee the library. You have access to every record ever created on our clan. Look up the records of who took the pact wine." I told her. "I wouldn't try to take someone from you again."

"I have to go." She said after a moment. "Goodbye Nikol."

"Alisa, please." I practically begged as she stormed away from me.

* * *

"And they're picking up the glass I knocked over, and then he gives her the 'I'm going to make out with you' look." Sally was telling me and Ray at home.

"No, he didn't." Ray said moving slightly closer.

"Actually, he didn't, because I was all, "No!" and then they heard it or they felt it, because then they just stopped." Sally told us as Aiden walked in the door.

"You pencil-jammed him." Ray said pointing his beer at her.

"From beyond the grave. It was the Death Star of pencil-jams." She said.

"Remind me never to bring a guy home." I told her. "I don't need you supernaturally cock-blocking my dates."

"That's gross." She told me and I just smiled at her.

"Hey, there he is." Ray said as Aiden made his way to the kitchen. "Hey, man. What's shaking?"

"Hey, Ray." Aiden greeted. "Uh, you split Danny and your friend up?" he asked Sally.

"Yeah. Yeah. And I broke a wine glass with my brain." Sally told him as Josh walked into the room.

"Who's ready for crepes?" he asked smiling at Ray.

"Oh, hell yea!" Ray said taking the offered plate and digging in.

"So you guys really hit it off." Aiden noted.

"Yeah, man knows his way around a rump roast." Josh said grinning. Aiden gave him a look and Josh's grin faded when he noticed it. "He knows his stuff."

"Josh and Ray had lots of werewolf bonding." I clarified. Aiden nodded before going for the kitchen.

"Hey, you alright?" Josh asked him. "You look a little off."

"I know that look" Ray said as Aiden was about to say something. "Someone got some stink last night." Sally laughed and turned to look at Aiden. I turned my wide eyes to Aiden as he retreated to the kitchen.

"Did you?" Josh asked him, his voice going all high. I got up and joined them as Josh repeated his question. "Did you?" Aiden grabbed a blood bag from the fridge before going to the table. "Did you get some stink?" Aiden and I both threw Josh a look. "You're not pulling that off. Want a crepe?"

"Nope." Aiden answered grabbing his blue cup.

"Hey, you were right actually. Ray's a pretty decent guy." Josh told us. "Um, he doesn't have a place to stay. I was thinking maybe he could crash here for a while." Aiden and I gave him another look.

"Really? Because we hardly know him." Aiden reminded him.

"Aiden's right. We don't know anything about him other than he's a werewolf." I said.

"Well, you're the one who told me to give him a chance." Josh reminded us. "So, what? You worried about having more than one werewolf in the house?"

"I am." I chimed in and they looked at me. "But that's probably because I don't have the greatest past with them."

"And of course I don't have a problem." Aiden told him.

"Good." Josh said taking one of his crepes back towards the living room.

"Wait, hold on." Aiden said quickly. "Have you talked this over with Sally?" We looked into the living room to see Ray talking to Sally, trying to get her to push a strawberry on the table.

"Just think of those two getting all up on each other." Ray told her. "If not for you, there definitely would have been digital manipulation." She pushed the strawberry.

"Yeah!" she said in a deep voice before turning to Ray with a smile on her face.

"She's cool with it." Josh told us before joining them.

* * *

Over the course of the month, things with Ray got weird. He'd eat all the time, noisily behind us while we tried to read or just have some down time. When he watched TV he'd randomly stick his hand down his pants. Sally followed Danny and Bridget around as Josh learned how to survive what he was. Aiden disappeared every night to go knows where with god know who, and I was alone. Alisa and Mikael left me be until I got a note the day before the full moon.

Keep a leach of your wolf. He found the other one.


End file.
